Home phone with 2 handsets and multiple ringtones

[Metr0Land]

My elderly friend has an old BT phone with rather small handsets.  The main unit with the answerphone is in her lounge and another set in the bedroom.  She had been having problems with spam calls.  Although you can block numbers it's a bit like whack a mole as next time they use another number.  However, her current set up has about 16 different ringtones so I arranged it that all the people likely to ring her would have one of these ringtones, so it became quite simple 'if it plays a jingle it's someone you want to speak to, if it doesn't - wait until they speak'. Genuine 'withheld numbers' aren't a problem as she usually knows when doctor/chemist/hospital will be calling.

 

Her system now seems to be playing up, and I live 30 miles away so it's problem trying to help her remotely (we're in a support bubble so I can visit, but a 60 mile roundtrip isn't something I can do at the drop of a hat).

 

When I look at the sales blurb for new units eg on BT or Amazon, very few seem to mention the ringtone facility so I can't tell if it's a given, or simply isn't on model x,y or z.....

 

Can anyone recommend a suitable setup (say max £75) ideally with larger handsets and screen size.

 

TIA

[RFS]

One solution would be to use a call blocker such as Truecall. We use this and it's brilliant - it filters out all the scam calls. 

[Metr0Land]

Thanks but the cost of that plus a new setup as well is likely to be out of her price range.

[Izzy]

I have one of the BT homephone sets with the built-in Call Guardian feature, (sounds basically the same as Truecall), after getting one for my very elderly in-laws. It’s brilliant for blocking all spam calls, but...no call from a withheld number or an automated one gets through, which can be problematic with calls from places like doctors etc that do this now by default, reminder calls etc. Although you can choose ringtones for different handsets I am not aware that you can assign different ones to types of call because basically the phone never rings unless the callers number is either in the ‘known’ list and comes straight through, or has stated their name and pressed the hash button to relay this info via the phone - you then have the choice to answer or not. Other makes besides BT now use this software in them, and there are some handsets with larger buttons etc. 

[kevinlms]

2 hours ago, Izzy said:

I have one of the BT homephone sets with the built-in Call Guardian feature, (sounds basically the same as Truecall), after getting one for my very elderly in-laws. It’s brilliant for blocking all spam calls, but...no call from a withheld number or an automated one gets through, which can be problematic with calls from places like doctors etc that do this now by default, reminder calls etc. Although you can choose ringtones for different handsets I am not aware that you can assign different ones to types of call because basically the phone never rings unless the callers number is either in the ‘known’ list and comes straight through, or has stated their name and pressed the hash button to relay this info via the phone - you then have the choice to answer or not. Other makes besides BT now use this software in them, and there are some handsets with larger buttons etc. 

That Call Guardian is sold in Australia (under another name) too and works very well, apart from the genuine unknown/blocked number calls.

 

You have to be able to train the user to add new good calls into the memory. Much easier if you can.

[Metr0Land]

Thanks.  Unfortunately she's a technophobe and even quite simple things to most of us are daunting for her.  Hence my use of ringtones on her current setup has been working well but the apparatus seems to be playing up.  It's looking like all the more modern machines have something like Call Guardian but they block doctors etc.  Simply pressing a button and adding good calls can be tricky (she'll likely press the wrong one/s).

 

I did think about looking on ebay but there are none at present and annoyingly a set went recently for a decent price.  Replacing like for like would be less stressful for her although I'd like to get something with bigger handsets/screen.

[kevinlms]

7 hours ago, Metr0Land said:

Thanks.  Unfortunately she's a technophobe and even quite simple things to most of us are daunting for her.  Hence my use of ringtones on her current setup has been working well but the apparatus seems to be playing up.  It's looking like all the more modern machines have something like Call Guardian but they block doctors etc.  Simply pressing a button and adding good calls can be tricky (she'll likely press the wrong one/s).

 

I did think about looking on ebay but there are none at present and annoyingly a set went recently for a decent price.  Replacing like for like would be less stressful for her although I'd like to get something with bigger handsets/screen.

Maybe if the current system is cordless phone based, perhaps a new set of batteries will fix it?

 

The trouble with blocking spam calls by blocking the number individually, is that the spammers can call from literally any number (including genuine ones, faked) and such memories can fill up.

[eastwestdivide]

Good call with the batteries. I’ve a similar 2-phone system, and they take rechargeable AAAs

[ejstubbs]

15 hours ago, Metr0Land said:

It's looking like all the more modern machines have something like Call Guardian but they block doctors etc.

 

We have a BT system with Truecall.  It doesn't "block" doctors etc.  If a call comes in from a number that's not on the "allow" or "block" lists then it answers the call and asks the caller to identify themselves.  Most automated calling systems as used by telemarketers and other unwanted callers will drop the call at that point (they detect it as an answering machine: they don't want their agents wasting time wittering away to answering machines, they want live victims, er, potential customers?)  But a human caller just has to say who they are: the system then rings the handset(s) and - if you answer - plays the caller's recorded announcement of who they are.  You then have the option to accept or reject the call (it even tells you which button to press to accept the call).  IIRC it uses a different ringtone for screened calls like this; in any case, it says it's a screened call on the display as it's ringing.

 

GP surgeries, hospitals and the like are used to dealing with Truecall as they deal with vulnerable patients all the time - they don't just hang up like nuisance callers do.  Even the tradespeople I've dealt with have had no problems being screened this way.  People are getting used to navigating their way through these systems, likely because many of them are just as fed up with nuisance calls as the rest of us.

[Ron Ron Ron]

Just to save any confusion.

BT have stopped using the title Call Guardian on their own brand of phones, as the name clashed with another company’s phone blocking service of the same name.

BT now call it Nuisance Call Blocker, but it’s exactly the same system.

 

You don’t have to be with BT or subscribe to any feature or service, as the magic is all performed in the phones, based on the caller display information contained in the phone call.

 

What ejstubbs describes as Truecall in the post above, is how BT’s “ Call Guardian”, or “Nuisance Call Blocker” as they now call it, works.

 

We’ve had it for years on the current set of cordless house phones and on the previous set we had before them.

It works a treat.

Note, we haven’t used BT for our landline service for about about 14 years.

 

As for different ringtones for different callers, some house phones allow you to select a different ringtone for each entry in their phone book memory.

We have unique ringtones set up for both our elderly mothers and each of our adult offspring, as well as for each other, so we know who’s calling before getting to the handset.

Unwanted and spam calls are 100% screened out and never ring.

We have a 200 number phone book memory and don’t use half of it, but it means most “wanted” or acceptable calls will get through.

Everyone else needs to go through the announcement process, which works for 90%+ of those calls.

Announced calls from numbers not in your phone book memory, can also be added to your phone book accepted list, with one button press, so they will be accepted in the future.

Any unwanted call that gets through, can also be immediately put on the blocked list,  with a single button press.

Any calls where the caller’s number is withheld, are always screened and the caller will have to go through the announcing process to get through.

If they give up and “hang up” and don’t announce themselves, the call never rings at our end.

 

 

My in laws were becoming plagued with nuisance calls last spring and when my Father-in-law sadly passed away last summer, we changed the Mother-in-Law’s house phones for a set of 4 BT phones with the Call Blocking feature.

Thankfully she’s now free from those bothersome and sometimes worrying nuisance calls.

 

.

Edited February 4, 2021 by Ron Ron Ron

[Metr0Land]

25 minutes ago, Ron Ron Ron said:

As for different ringtones for different callers, some house phones allow you to select a different ringtone for each entry in their phone book memory.

We have unique ringtones set up for both our elderly mothers and each of our adult offspring, as well as for each other, so we know who’s calling before getting to the handset. Unwanted and spam calls are 100% screened out and never ring.

.

 

May I ask which system you're using?  'Call guardian' or whatever, plus ringtones would be very reassuring for my friend.

[Ron Ron Ron]

35 minutes ago, Metr0Land said:

 

May I ask which system you're using?  'Call guardian' or whatever, plus ringtones would be very reassuring for my friend.

 

Our phones are BT branded (although we are not BT customers).

The exact model is now replaced, but it features the "Call Guardian" feature, 

BT no longer use this name. They changed it to "Call Blocker" and more recently, "Nuisance Call Blocker".

It's still the same feature though.

 

If your friend doesn't have this on her phone(s), then she will have to buy a new phone, or set of phones with the call blocking feature.

Someone will have to set it up for her and input all the names and phone numbers into the phone's memory.

 

 

Note that BT and other phone service providers, also offer a different type of subscription based call blocking service, which you usually have to pay for.

This operates at the telephone exchange, or network end and you don't need new phones to use it, but it'll increase your phone bill instead..

 

This isn't the same as having the feature built-in to the phones, which requires nothing more than caller display to be available on your landline and is free to use.

However, some phone providers still charge for caller display, while others include it for free with the landline rental.

 

 

Read this....

 

https://shop.bt.com/guides/ideas-inspirations/how-to-block-all-nuisance-calls

 

 

BT range of phones (also available from Amazon, Currys and other retailers).....

 

https://shop.bt.com/learnmore/bt-branded-products-and-services/bt-home-phones/

 

 

 

 

 

.

 

 

 

Edited February 4, 2021 by Ron Ron Ron

[ejstubbs]

Our phones are the BT8610 model which is no longer offered.  The nearest to those on the list linked by Ron Ron Ron would be the "BT4600 Premium Nuisance Call Blocker" - which also happens to be the Which? best buy (not that I am a Which? subscriber).  If you look at the product listing the red 'shield' with three stars says "Block up to 100% of nuisance calls"; it also says "powered by trueCall" - as does the user guide -  which is the same as our phones.

 

Compare the BT4600 to the less costly "BT4000 Advanced Nuisance Call Blocker" which only has two stars on the red 'shield' and which simply bears the wording "Nuisance call blocker plus".  Neither the listing nor the user guide say anything about trueCall.

 

For less than £10 extra per handset I'd recommend the BT4600 over the BT4000.  We find the "powered by trueCall" phones have reduced nuisance calls to zero while not impeding unknown numbers which have a reason to be calling us from getting through.  The non-trueCall-powered BT4000 phones may work just as well but I've no experience of them to be able to say either way.

 

As Ron Ron Ron says, the advantage of these types of phones is that you don't need to pay for extra services from your landline provider (unless they're mean enough to charge extra for Caller ID - which is pretty useful in itself anyway IMO: if the MiL calls I can leave it for the missus to pick up!)